In the second quarter Saturday at Houston, seemingly every Nuggets guard had two or three fouls, so coach George Karl called on 6-foot-7 Gary Forbes to eat up some minutes.

On Wednesday, Karl was in a bind again. Just before the game, center Nene was ruled out with a left groin muscle sprain. Instead of messing with his rotation, Karl again went to the end of his bench, starting Forbes against Dallas.

With Nene day to day, Karl stuck with his other starters — post Shelden Williams, forward Carmelo Anthony and guards Chauncey Billups and Arron Afflalo.

Forbes, a free-agent invitee, had the unenviable assignment of defending all-star Dirk Nowitzki, and early on he rattled the Mavs standout on a couple on possessions. Forbes played 24 minutes, scoring 12 points with three rebounds and two assists.

“He earned it in practice,” Karl said of Forbes’ playing time.

Karl responds to KG.

According to the Twitter of Detroit’s Charlie Villanueva, Boston’s Kevin Garnett insulted Villa- nueva, who has a medical condition that results in hair loss.

Villanueva tweeted: “KG called me a cancer patient, I’m (angered) because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke.”

After Karl’s valiant bout with throat and neck cancer last spring, he has become the NBA’s face of cancer survival.

Asked about Garnett, Karl said: “My initial response is: it’s disappointing and crossing the line. I don’t know if cancer is an epidemic in our country, but we accept it as a problem and it’s a very dangerous part of life for everybody. Making fun of it, that’s part of (some people’s) sarcastic side of trash talk. . . . I also believe that competition makes us do things that we don’t have our total mental morality (in check). We act like children at times, even coaches.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.